New highly motivated grower

[thatboi]

hello all i am a big smoker but hav never grown before but i have done hours and hours of extensive research. i hav worked out a growing plan and setup and would appreciate any help, hints and tips.
i want to start with a small bud box 75cm x75cm x 1m
Ruck 4inch fan with carbon filter for exhaust
***intake fan (im not to sure how this works in a setup)***
Bio bizz light mix, grow, bloom , topmax and root juice
250 watt sodium lamp for flower and 250 metal halide for veg both used with good reflector. (pro-ultra)

So im growing 4 plants 2 white widow and 2 white rhino
start them off in jiffy from seeds then into small containers with the light mix
as they grow i will progressively change the pot size until i get them into a 11 litre square pot.

as you all are vetran growers i know i have missed out on loads of things and hav overlooked certain items in my setup so please dont hestitate to give any info. thanx so much

[organix]

I would nix the 1m high budbox and go for 1.8/2m version, double the headroom will make a big difference.:drool:

I would go with all-mix over light mix also.

[thatboi]

the misus wnt allow me havin the larger one. But im putting pressure on her and she should fold. so hopefully i will be able to use the larger one if so should i upgrade to a 400 watt halide and sodium.

[Growz]

if so should i upgrade to a 400 watt halide and sodium.

if you go with the bigger tent defo get the 400w but if you can, get the 600w and the 1.2m tent because within a few months you will be wanting the extra space and wattage, guaranteed! oh and if you do, get the 5" extractor fan

growing yer own is addictive you will be constantly looking for new stuff to better your garden

:weed:

[bubbs]

welcome mate, u have done your home work:D good luck dude make sure u do a diary :Di love bud pics

[yavana]

Also, if you're going with your current set-up, you probably don't need an intake fan so long as you're going to have a normal fan to circulate air inside the tent...the extraction should be enough.

Anyone else think so?

[Midnight Toker]

firstly, Welcome to THCTalk.


looks like you've done a bit of homework before posting which is always appreciated ... I'd def go with the full height budbox if you can convince the other half to go along with it. The small one would prob be more suited to an envirolite as the heat the HPS produces could be an issue in such a small area .. particularly with the summer coming along.

One other thing for you to think about until you can give a more finalised setup ... if you do go the HPS route, why bother with the expense of 2 bulbs (HPS/MH) when you can use a grolux bulb for veg & flower ?

I've tried other HPS bulbs but the grolux is a great bulb and is my weapon of choice for the foreseeable future.

[yavana]

I'm also using a Grolux and can vouch for them.

Thinking about your set up a bit more, let me share my experience with you:

go with a 400w and a Cooltube. The 400w bulbs and ballasts are sometimes even cheaper than the 250w, and usually not more than 10euros more expensive. It's a lot more light and since you're probably going to have to get a Cooltube-styled reflector, you might as well get as much light as it'll reasonably handle.

Oh and Midnight Toker is definitely right about getting the bigger tent. I have a Homebox XS and literally just ordered a Homebox L because I'm really unsatisfied with all the extra issues the smaller size is causing me. The XS make a good clone/veg/mum tent with a few CFLs, but I don't think it's really that great for a primary tent - insofar as you're planning on growing enough to stop buying completely (and assuming you're smoking about 5g a week, like I do). The bigger one is, er, you know, bigger, but neither are really that discreet and you're not going to be able to shove the smaller one in a closet (I was going to do that) because of the heat issues (unless you want to start routing exhaust through the exterior of the closet).

Just my 2 cents.

[Bitterfly]

welcome mate :D


hope you like it here ;)

[asphyyxiate]

you probably wont need a sole intake fan with a setup like that..passive intake shud do just fine :)

also add to your list a small 6 or 7" oscillating fan inside the room to move air around and to strengthen stems

[sweetsinner]

:)
Welcome to the forums :)

My advice to you would be choose your soil wisely as this is an important medium and growing in bad soil can afftect your plants drastically. I was unlucky enough to grow in westlands for my first grow and just keeping my girls alive was an hard job...
I use allmix at the moment, not lite , but i know alot of growers are having excellent results with plagtron bat mix.

Anyway good luck in the venture of your first grow, you wont look back!!

:D

[Midnight Toker]

The Bat mix does look the Biz & i'd love to give it a bash but unfortunately there's no one local selling it & getting it delivered is too much hassle as i'm never at home during the day mon-sat.

Guess i'll have to make do with the ole B&Q specialist soil for my next grow as i cant even get my fav levingtons (with JI no 1&3) locally anymore.

[thatboi]

Thanks for all the help much appreciated. i think im definatley going to have to go with the larger tent. I havent done much research when it comes to cooltubes so thats something i will be onto.
About the growlux lamp i hav read somewhere that all HPS bulbs including growlux dont contain enough blue spectrum lighting to support explosive veg growth and infact using a mh bulb for veg will be more suitable is this true and ifso is there much difference to be noticed between using a growlux for veg compared to a MH lamp?
sweetsinner mentioned the importance of using the correct soil. this is where it gets complicated for me as certain people say they use allmix or light mix but then certain people say they use either of them but add additives ie perlite and vermiculite. what would you guys reccomend to start growing in? is the Plagron bat mix suitable from start to finish, i really want to have a good soil i dont want to be stuck having to fight to keep my planrts alive.
Lastly i came back from Dam a month ago:joint::bong: and i was absolutley blown away by sativa strains it was the first time i ever tasted them and trutthfully i though they were laced thats how good they where. can you guys reccomend a sativa strain to grow or is it better to get some experience under my belt before tackling a sativa.
i apologise for all the questions and thnks again for all your help

[yavana]

We're having like parallel experiences. I came back from Amsterdam in Feb and was also blown away by the sativas - Chocoloupe, Lemon Skunk, Honey Bee, and on. I'm going back in like 2 weeks (post-Easter) and am definitely picking up Chocoloupe, Lemon Skunk and Mean Green Martian seeds (I haven't smoked MGM yet, but it's virtually impossible to buy). I had a really good experience at the DNA Genetics shop, if you've got the cash (they can be expensive), their sativas are what struck me the most (the few I could buy from the Grey Area). If I were in the UK, I would order Crazy X seeds from the THCTalk seed bank - can't go wrong with their pricing and from what I've read here and on another forum, the customer support is excellent ;)

Props on the larger tent, you'll definitely appreciate it, especially since sativas are typically much taller than indicas. I haven't heard of any reason that you shouldn't grow a sativa as a first strain - most strains are mixed after all. You'll have the height to keep them growing. The one thing I would avoid on a first grow is feminized seeds: if you stress them, which I think everyone does their first grow, they'll go hermie on you. For me I know it's much less likely that I'd leave a male plant in too long as opposed to not seeing a hermie and it pollinating everything.

And if you're wondering - I'm using Allmix. Some people say that Allmix is too rich for seedlings and will lock them up, but so far every seed that's gone into Allmix has come out of the Allmix just fine. If you use Allmix the consensus seems to be to not feed the plants anything for the first 3-4 weeks and then gradually introduce fertilizer to the soil. You should also probably taper down the fertilizer a bit when you repot just to be safe. The big thing to avoid with soil is anything from a garden center that has "time released fertilizers". The time releasing can make it difficult to figure out when and how much of your fertilizer you should add.

As for the HPS/MH/Grolux debate, I'm using a 400w Grolux primarily. I'll be getting a 200w CFL for my smaller grow tent, but I wouldn't worry about vegging under a Grolux or even just a normal HPS. They grow fine - might be a little stretchy in the veg phase but it's something you can manage. Considering MH bulbs are typically like 50euro, skipping the MH is an easy way to cut some costs on your first grow and also makes for a nice future upgrade. The other reason I like the Grolux is that I have this sort of irrational, unsupported belief that mixed light (blue and red) is the best for the plants as opposed to concentrating in one area. I feel like it's more like normal sunlight that way. MH bulbs are more suitable for vegging, but they aren't necessary - especially with dual spec bulbs.

(sorry for the stoner ramble in places...)

[thatboi]

Yavana i think we are having parallel experiences as i am going back on the 7th of April:bigjoint::bigjoint::joint::joint: when i firts went i tried hawain haze silver haze and nyc diesel all wicked.
i hav taken in all the info and reckon i am going to go with either plagrons bat mix or bio's all mix.
you hav scared me slightly as i was going with feminized seeds from green house simply becuase their website advertizes them as "100% hermphrodite free"
the last thing i want is a hermie messin up my whole crop.
But at the same time i would have to plant so many regular seeds to gaurantee me harvesting say 5 plants. i havent grown before and i hav this vision of me struggling to control all these huge plants before they show sex. is this the case? roughly how big do the plants get before they show sex.

i am really intrested in malawi gold from afropips. i have reserched and it is said to be one of the most potent sativa strains eva and Afro pips do a smaller version of it called mini malawi if i dont go feminized i think im defo going to throw some of these seeds into my grow.

[yavana]

I bet some of the sativas can get big before they show sex :) But don't worry, you can control that.

And the trick is not to plant from seed each time, start cloning :) Seeding takes longer and with most seed banks can be pretty expensive.

Wait for someone with more experience to drop buy on the feminized seeds, but I'm of the opinion that "100% Hermaphrodite Free" is 100% bullshit. I'm sure that different strains hermie easier than others, but for them to claim that their feminized seeds with never hermie is kind stretches my willingness to believe.

[Midnight Toker]

If you're looking for a good Sativa i can strongly recommend Mandala seeds "Satori" ... it means enlightened mind.

It takes a good 13/14 weeks to finish flowering but boy it's good !.

Another you might wanna consider is Crazy X Seeds Malonica. available here : https://www.thctalk.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=8_1&products_id=2


I've got a pack for growing later this year along with another couple of Matt's strains ... looking forward to that one !

[D]

I can vouch for Malonica, jesus wept I nearly died after smoking that :p

[PTB]

I can vouch for Malonica, jesus wept I nearly died after smoking that :p

Did you grow the Malonica?... I was wondering how tall they grow, got one under 1week flowering right now after 4weeks veg.

[stoneroz]

if you go with the bigger tent defo get the 400w but if you can, get the 600w and the 1.2m tent because within a few months you will be wanting the extra space and wattage, guaranteed! oh and if you do, get the 5" extractor fan

growing yer own is addictive you will be constantly looking for new stuff to better your garden

:weed:
yeah, get a 600watter

[thatboi]

i have got a quick question im pretty confident on how to fertilize after reading mandala mikes info on fertilization techniques and guidelines but how about general feeding.
how often do you water the plants with just plain water.
say im using a very diluted fertilizer solution with an ec of 0.85 or so and fertilize every 5 days would you also feed the plant water in between? if so how much and how often.
month end is on the way. Once i get paid im gonna get my last bits and set up my grow room. im sooooooooooo excited to start growing i cant explain how sick:banghead: sick:banghead: sick:banghead: sick:banghead: to death i am of smoking this shite street skunk i get from the local dealers.
soon i will have my own jars full of top quality cannabis, (well Hopefully:toke::joint:)

[Midnight Toker]

I would say as a general rule 3 feeds then one plain water. this can be changed if you notice signs of deficiency or burn.

Go gently on the nutes & you should find a schedule like that will keep em coming along nicely.

Only start the nutes once they show signs of needing a feed.